Interview with a Winner:

You can buy jeans at Kmart, and you can buy jeans at Nordstrom and have two very different experiences. I look at the loan process the same way. We are the Nordstrom's of the industry. There are many other brokers out there who sell by rate - and they are the Kmart's.

We are very careful to make sure that the experience we provide for the customer is one that would equal Nordstrom's. A lot of companies spend money buying new clients, but we spend all our resources, well the majority of our resources, taking care of the clients in the first place, and then marketing to them every month, thereafter.

That is very unorthodox, actually 99 percent of all brokers don't market to their past clients. If they do, it's sporadic. Ours is consistent - the 31st of every month.

Boni: What do you send them?

Bill: In March and September we send a letter from the heart. It is a very deep letter. In September, after the September 11th thing, I shared with my clients that I loved my family, and I sent out that letter, and I had 40 narrative responses of people saying, "I haven't contacted my dad in 15 years, I am going to call him..."

So I am touching people on a very deep level, other than just rates. The rest of the months we do what is called, "Evidence of Success" and that is where we write a letter kind of thing like," We just refinanced the Jones', they saved $300.00 a month and got $80,000.00 to remodel the kitchen! If saving money, and getting cash out interests you give us a call!" We tell stories. And it works phenomenally well.

Boni: And that's in a letter?

Bill: No, we do post cards. With the mail scare, we're not doing letters anymore. We used to, but we believe we have a higher chance of them reading it if they don't have to open it.

Boni: How did you get started in the mortgage business?

Bill: I used to buy and sell houses. In 1988, I had a nice big house in Fremont, and I got caught in the economy downturn. I was stuck with the house for two years. Then I decided to get into something that was a little more stable, because when the economy goes up, people buy houses and mortgages. When the economy is not doing well, rates are down and people are refinancing. So that's why I got into this industry. Because it's always an inverse of one another and I feel like my efforts are based upon my energy, not based upon what the market is doing.

Boni: What mistake do you see new loan officers typically making?

Bill: There are very few loan officers who actually take ownership - meaning being responsible for the investor, the appraisal, and the title company. Again if you go to Nordstrom, instead of yelling across the store asking where the jeans are, the sales clerk takes the customer through the store - they guide them.

In the loan process, instead of blaming the appraiser for being late, or blaming the title company for not drawing up the documents, or blaming the investor that it didn't get approved and so on... we actually take ownership and hold people accountable. That's the biggest mistake that I see new LOs making.

Also, they don't approach the business like a business. First thing I will ask a new loan officer is, "What is your budget for marketing?" and they will look at me with a blank stare. And the analogy that I always use is that if I was CEO of Coca-Cola, and next month I decided to cut the marketing what would you think of that decision? They always say, "That would be terrible". Then I ask them, "How would you expect to start a business without a marketing budget?"

Another metaphor that I like to use is, if I were a CEO of IBM, and said, "I am paying you $200,000.00 of your base salary, and based on your work ethic the last two weeks, how long would you last?" And they would say, "We wouldn't," So they don't take a business approach to it, their response is, "Well, I had to go run errands, I had to do this and that." They let other things get in the way, of truly treating it like a professional environment.

Boni: When you look at veteran loan officers, who have been around for a while, what mistake do you see them typically making?

Bill: First of all, they don't mail to the best clients. So they're neglecting their biggest asset. I did a CAM convention about a year and half ago. I had hundreds of loans officers coming up to our booth. The first question I asked was, "Do you mail your database?" 99 percent of them did not.

I think that if you're going to mail something, be consistent about it, and make it informative where people want to read it. But when clients call me up and say, "Hey, I got your letter and it inspired me so that I faxed it to my daughter." Then you're on the right track. So the biggest thing is, one they don't mail to the top clients, and two they're not consistent meaning they don't have consistent hours.

Boni: If you had a son or a daughter entering this business, what advice would you give them on getting started the right way?

Bill: Put 200 names in a database right out of the gate - to which they mail an introduction letter. Have consistent hours. Work 2 nights a week where you have consistent appointment hours. Don't work weekends. Create a business plan based upon your vision.

Boni: Can you elaborate on that?

Bill: Well, I think that a lot of people don't have a vision in this world, and so where do they end up? They end up by accident. I believe a clear vision is essential, because that way you can grade day by day, or year by year whether you are getting close to your goals or not. I think that it's essential to have a vision with your partner as well because aspirations change, and people tend to grow apart because they don't keep it in alignment.

The ideal situation for a loan officer is to create a vision, create the tempo and the life you want to live, and then create a business plan that supports that. Then the business plan goes from annual, down to monthly, down to number of loans, by number of applications to number of leads, down to everyday number of leads they have to get to make their goals. That is supporting your vision.

Boni: What was your most successful marketing campaign?

Bill: Mailing to my past clients. I don't do anything other than mailing to my past clients. I am very different in this industry in that, for running 80 branches in 40 states, I still originate loans, and in March I did $90,000 for 23 units, and 100% of my business came from my past client letters. Those letters cost .43 cents each. So approximately 600 letters cost me $240.00 and I created $90,000 in revenue.

I think that a lot of people misunderstand. They don't track the numbers, they don't know their income per deal, they don't know how many leads they closed percentage wise. If you look at professional sports, the first thing you are going to ask a baseball player is, "What is your batting average?"

Ask a loan officer what their income is per deal, and they will give you a blank stare. Then ask them, "OK, of every lead you get how many do you turn into an application?" And they will say, "Well, I think 80 or 90 percent." They don't know their numbers. Another thing they don't do is practice; they don't record their presentation to fine-tune it.

Half of our professional athletes are looking at films. But we in this industry we never look at game films, we never look at ourselves doing what we are doing.

We have a script, but I think "script" is too strong of a word because every situation is different. We have a basis to a script, and we have three kinds of scripts. I believe that the first appointment, when somebody calls on the phone, you have 3 minutes to get them to make an appointment. And you get into a thing called "triangular trust", if you were referred to me, I would say, "How were you referred to me? Oh from Bob!" And I would get the triangulation of trust going -then I would make an appointment.

I do not endorse qualifying people on the telephone because I think that everybody is worthy of an appointment. Because even if it doesn't work out, you are going to refer me to somebody because you are impressed that I took the time to see you. So yes, we have a basis to a script, but it really allows for individuality.

The other thing I think is important - every client is given what they expect. Once I meet with a client I say to them, "I want to do a great job for you, the only way I can do that is to look through your eyes -so can you tell me what you expect from me?" When I say that to my clients, they almost fall over because they are not used to hearing that. Loan officers make assumptions and they think that they know what the client wants, but really they don't because they never ask the question.

Boni: Who or what was your biggest contributor to your success?

Bill: There are four contributors. The first one is a thing called "Quantum Management". How do we know one is committed? By the results. We know that they were committed if they didn't let some other priority get in the way.

"Quantum Management" is a forum for holding people accountable through support versus judgment. Because if somebody comes in late, the first thing they say is "I'm sorry" but it's not about being right or wrong. It's truly about being held accountable through support. It's a weeklong course that we send everybody to.

The second thing is called "Rapport Leadership" - it's a weekend long course that truly allows people to get in touch with the fact that most people are just kind of doing "good enough" in life. And they really don't give their all to their relationship, to their family, to their careers.

The third thing is "By Referral Only" which is where our database management has to be responsible for the client and have an experience through the client's eyes. Not what I intended but that's how they perceived it.

And the last thing is called the "Core" which is Rick Ruby; he taught me how to save money.

Boni: Do you send all of your Loan Officer's to these courses?

Bill: Yes and we are also becoming much more selective when we hire. We don't hire anybody with a poor credit score. Now, that may be a little bit rigid, but the bottom line is we want people that are responsible and handle their affairs in a timely manner in their personal life and their business life. I think that if somebody is responsible in their personal life, they're going to be responsible at work. So that is a big thing right there. What we have done, is steadily raised the bar, if you will. So now everybody goes to all three courses.

Boni: That includes your support staff too?

Bill: Yes, these courses are incredible - they really allow people to go to the next level. I want the person who answers the phone to be excited about answering the phone! There are two books that they have to read when they come on board, "Raving Fans," and "Who's On My Team." Because I want everybody, who is working here, to be aware of the clients experience through the client's eyes. Nordstrom service again. The client is always right.

It's not about right or wrong, it's about supporting you in your commitment. It's a tough thing, because first of all, if I hold somebody accountable and I wasn't in a relationship with them they would think I was some kook! And if I hold somebody accountable who hasn't gone through Quantam they're going to think I am a kook too. So what Quantam allows is a weeklong course that allows them to be held accountable through support verses judgment. And what comes out of that is, that you learn that in every situation invariably, there is a way to do it both.

Boni: How do people find out about those courses?

Bill: whogarty@ofloan.com, if you're interested just send me an email.

Bill: When somebody comes on with us, we say, "Hey if you would like to join us here are the three things that we do - you have to do it within 6 months, is that something that you think you can handle?" It gives them a choice. It empowers them. It's much easier to lead that way, than to try and go back post-hiring and say, "Oh, by the way can you do this?"

What we are finding is that we just lay it down in the middle, we are not finding anybody objecting to it. But boy if you try and go back, and throw it on somebody - not good. We actually find that people want leadership, and that they are excited about it, to be honest with you.

Boni: I think that people appreciate the support that you are giving too.

Bill: Yes, absolutely. To be honest with you, it is much harder to care and make a difference than it is to sit on the sidelines, and watch somebody flounder. The thing with loan officers today is, if your goal is $200,000 a year, and you are doing $5,000 a month you are not going to make your goal. I ask them, "Do you want me to give you input?" Because to sit and watch them, that's easy. But if you want my input that takes more energy. So which one do you want? And it's coming to the loan officer with the point of view, do they want support or do they just want to fumble - instead of telling them what they should do.

On the 15th of each January we go over the business plan, of what they are going to commit to for the year. That way I am not leading people by what way I think they should do, I am leading people by what they are telling me they want to do.

Boni: How do you make the time for this? Do you close the office for a day for them to write this? Is this something they do on their personal time?

Bill: Again, in my scope, I have to make things simple, so I have this form and it takes about 5 or 10 minutes - you just fill in the blanks. It's very simple. The form goes out on November 30th, and people have until January 15th to do it, and there are weekly reminders. Because getting independent people to do stuff, is always a challenge in itself.

So January 15th everybody has it in because they've had a month and a half of reminders. And it's so simple. I went to two offices yesterday with it and those dumb business plans were pinned up on peoples' cubicles! It's definitely planting the seeds of thought.

Boni: Would you mind sharing that with our readers?

Bill: Ok, you start out with your income goal for the year let's say it is $200,000. Then you take your average income per deal, lets say that is $3,000. Your income for the year is $200,000 your average income per deal is $3,000, lets say you have a 60% split, so you would take $3,000 times 60% that means $1,800 is the amount that you are going to get on each loan after your split. So you take the $1,800 and your divide it by the $200,000, and that will give you how many deals you have to do for the year.

Then you divide it by 12, and that gives you the number of deals you have to do for the month. Then you would divide that by your ratio of closed applications, that means the number of applications verses actual ones you close. So lets say it's 80%.

So if you take 5 deals a month, and you have to be at 80 percent, that means that you have to actually pull 6 applications. Lets say, now your leads, 50 percent of your leads turn into applications, that means if you have to have 6 applications then you need 12 leads a month.

So then if you have 20 business days in a month, twelve leads that means you need at least one lead every other day. So instead of making this huge goal, that is so far out there, it breaks it down day by day.

I did it one day, because I was so frustrated because nobody would do a business plan. And I thought, gosh I have to make it simple, stupid, and I did, and it works.

Bill: Then every month, we do two things. We do originations and projected findings. If they think we are going to do 5 deals for $20,0000 or whatever, then we do a graph at the end of the month that says how many deals they actually did, verses their projection. So it is pretty cool, boy you get a lot of honesty out of that. It keeps people focused week to week on what they are doing, instead of just waiting for the month to happen.

Each loan officer turns it in individually, then the branch managers tally it, then I have someone who tally's it for the company. So I can have a graph for the whole company. I know how many originations we had last month, I know what is coming up this month, and I know what our projected verses our actual was.

We really work hard at creating an incredible level of service, as interpreted by the clients. So there is a big push in our company to constantly increase the amount of income per loan, while increasing the level of satisfaction by the client. We're very aware of our numbers. When I started doing this, I was at $1,700 average per deal, and now I am at $3,700! And that was just by knowing the numbers.

Boni: If you had a magic wand what would you change about your current bussiness?

Bill: If I could go back and re-hire everybody that I hired in the past I would do that. Where I talked about my three training programs - it's a lot harder to convince those people to go after the fact.

Boni: What are your goals now?

Bill: We are number 6 in the country as far as size of mortgage brokerage. Our goal is to become number one. To become a household name.

To download a copy of Bill's business plan, click here.

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